The Garand monicker reminds me of a discussion re: the scene in Saving Private Ryan when the trooper calls P-51s 'tank busters' that I've had with other collectors.

The term makes them rankle, even when I cite squadrons of the 8th AF that flew P-51s in exactly that role, on D-Day. To some, the term was correct. To others it was not. In the war and after. Just like the term "Garand'- some GIs used it, some didn't. Personally since I didn't know John Garand, and the name of the rifle is the M1 rifle, I usually call it a ham and swiss on rye since it's instantly recognizable anyway

I may not have been clear, but I meant to say the opposite - the M1 was designed to load the first round without the operator hitting the op ord handle. I don't know if clip tension might have been increased at some point, perhaps to insure against rounds coming loose in shipping.

I am also looking forward to hearing from all the folks who call the M1 carbine a "Williams".

To be honest, there is an awful lot of Thomas C. Johnson in the M1 Carbine, so it would be more approproate to say: "There I was, all alone and hunkered in my parka, when the whole squad started towards me at a run. I pulled out my "Johnson" and..................."

Once upon a time I had the stock off my M1 and the bolt open. I was holding it in my left hand balancing it, sitting in a chair. I leaned down to the right and reached for a brush, the Garand tilted toward the barrel end and the follower touched my thumb, the bolt slammed forward and I had the whole thing hanging off the end of my thumb. So I'm gonna vote fact. In the process of handling one with the bolt back, its possible to close the bolt on a finger, or thumb in several different ways. So care and caution should be used. Its probably not gonna cut your thumb off, but it hurts.

I leaned down to the right and reached for a brush, the Garand tilted toward the barrel end and the follower touched my thumb, the bolt slammed forward and I had the whole thing hanging off the end of my thumb.

Sounds like the bolt wasn't locked back, but just hung up on the follower. I'll bet it looked something like Chris_B's photo.

I've never had a M1 close while my thumb was pressing on the top round in the clip.

I do make sure the bolt is locked all the way back before sticking my fingers in there to clean the chamber or anything before firing.

__________________
Proud member of the NRA and Texas State Rifle Association. Registered and active voter.

OK, I am a believer and all the soldiers and Marines, including WWII vets, I heard call it an M1 were figments of my imagination.

Yes, in the early days of the Garand-Springfield dispute and later in Garand-Johnson controversy, the rifle was commonly called a "Garand" in the popular press as well as in the few gun and hunting magazines that wrote about it. Some people did continue to call it that, but the official manuals, the instructors and the common troops called it what they had been trained to call it, the M1 rifle. The troops called it the M1 to the end of its service life when it was replaced by the M14 ("Son of Garand", maybe) and the "Stoner", aka the M16.

When the CMP began selling those rifles, they had a manual prepared that called it the M1 Garand. I don't know if that resurrected the name, or if it is just a common trend of the Mall Ninjas to name guns (I saw "Glockie" the other day), but the name Garand ("Garry" in one post) has come back in vogue and is used by many of those who run around in cammies and pretend to be veterans of some war or another.

My opinion of the man himself is that he was a genius and that his rifle was what was needed to help the U.S. win over the Axis powers; I have nothing but the highest regard for him, though I only met him one time for a few minutes. So I do not mean to insult his memory by saying that his name was not commonly applied to the rifle he invented. But it wasn't.

Darn it guys, here I was, just getting used to the idea of calling my M-1 Carbine a "Williams" or "Johnson", and now we're back to the Garand idea. I'm just glad I didn't throw out my manuals from the CMP for the M-1 or the Carbine. Call it what you want to; it'll always just be an "M-1" or "Carbine" to me.

Thanks for the info, guys, I've been sitting back waiting for all this "noise" to clear so as to be able to communicate without sounding ignorant. I think those who carried these into battle have the right to call them anything they want. It seems that I am stil safe in saying, "That's my M-1 Garand" and thanking God for having IT and the knowing men who carried them into battle.

My opinion of the man himself is that he was a genius and that his rifle was what was needed to help the U.S. win over the Axis powers; I have nothing but the highest regard for him, though I only met him one time for a few minutes.

That's impressive and a rare privilege.

I dealt with a man in the 70s who worked with Garand, and, apparently knew him well enough to be invited to his home to watch his ice skating. The particular gentleman I knew ended up working as a consultant to Savage in the production of Thompsons, and came up with a brilliantly simple idea to bore barrels concentrically. (Apparently, Savage had problems with barrels being bored off center in the early days.)

Perhaps I should not have mentioned it, as I cannot claim to have "known" Mr. Garand. I was introduced to him at an AOA convention in Washington (about 1958) by an ordnance colonel I knew pretty well. I do recall that the colonel pronounced his name as "Gar' und" with the first syllable like "Gary", and Mr. Garand didn't correct him, so I always assumed that was the right pronunciation, something that seems to be always in question. He seemed like a nice fellow. We shook hands, I said something like "Very pleased to meet you", and he said something about the same, and we went our separate ways. We didn't discuss the finer points of rifle design or what some part of his rifle was intended to do.

I made a phone call. To my grandad. He joined the corp in sept. 1939. He retired in 1972. According to him, in bootcamp he was trained with "the springfield". When he reported to his first ship, he carried the 1911. When he went to the infantry in july 1942 he was issued "the Garand". All I can say is, he would know what the Corp called it.

__________________Hundreds of years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove... But the world may be different because I did something so bafflingly crazy that my ruins become a tourist attraction.

It doesn't matter at this late date. Its like the .45 Colt vs .45 Long Colt debate. If I say Garand, or .45 Long Colt, most everyone knows what I'm referring too and only a few will quibble about the accuracy and authenticity of it.

"I like Garands you load 'em with those springy do-jiggers." "I wish it used clips like muh .45" -random clod Don't waste time correcting this guy, cause wasting time and/or breath is all you're doing.

Then, note the narrator refers to it as the M1 .30 Caliber, "commonly known as the Garand."

Please, please, please don't make me sit thru those d.... govt. videos again. I've seem them all too many times, and like alot of what the govt. puts out, I believe less than 100% of it. Of course, as Gen. McArther carried one for so long, he must be right, right?

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